


HoDT - Loyal

by medaeus (medivhthecorrupted)



Series: The Holocron of Darth Tyranus [15]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23660320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/medivhthecorrupted/pseuds/medaeus
Summary: One of Qui-Gon's strays becomes attached to Master Dooku and makes a Jedi Council meeting interesting.
Series: The Holocron of Darth Tyranus [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1699117
Kudos: 30





	HoDT - Loyal

**114**

**Loyal**

It was another one of Qui-Gon's pet projects, literally. They had found it in an old and abandoned diamond mine on the frozen world of Arkania after a harrowing escape from space pirates. They had been forced to make an emergency landing on the ice ball and from there, shelter in aforementioned mine when an ice storm had hit the crash site. It wasn't until a few hours after they had taken shelter and started a fire that his Padawan had noticed the thing. As usual, the Force beckoned his student to investigate and do something about the Arkanian dragon hatchling they had discovered amidst broken egg shells and dead siblings.

It's mother was no where to be found and even he sensed that she was no long amongst the living. Of course the half starved hatchling devouring the frozen corpses of its siblings might have also been a clue as to what had become of her. Predictably, Qui-Gon asked if they could take the creature with them and at first he refused but eventually gave in when the boy knew which strings to pull and what promises to make.

He wished he hadn't.

So the thing accompanied them back to Coruscant a day later once they had reached the small spaceport and booked passage out of the system. At first the tiny hatchling stayed around his Padawan, eagerly consuming whatever the boy fed him—which mostly consisted of ration bars and crackers—and sharing in his warmth. But as soon as they reached the city planet, the blasted thing decided that it preferred _him_ over the boy.

“He likes you,” quipped Qui-Gon, clearly amused at his master's predicament. The stubby winged dragon had taken up residence inside his robes and was presently wrapped around his right arm within the large sleeve.

“I do not like him,” replied Master Dooku while trying to dig the hatchling out of his sleeve. He winced as the animal clung tighter to his arm to avoid being removed. After a minute the Jedi Master gave up and just let the thing remain there, the tip of it's spiny tail just hanging out of the end of his cuff. “You are suppose to be caring for him, Padawan,” the master reminded and Qui-Gon simply grinned back. He had a feeling that he was going to end up stuck with the animal.

As the days turned into weeks, Master Dooku's prediction turned to reality. However he had grown to like the animal as the animal grew both in size and personality. When they had first found it, it's body had been no bigger than his palm, weeks later it was as long as his forearm and could no longer hide within his sleeves anymore—much to his relief—and so ended up taking residence elsewhere in his robes, not so much to his relief.

It's personality seemed to match that of his own, equally as temperamental, moody and defiant whenever it interacted with other creatures, namely Qui-Gon. No matter how hard Qui-Gon tried to get the hatchling to pay attention to him or obey him, the creature simply ignored the Padawan and only seemed to acknowledge him when it was feeding time. However whenever Dooku wanted the thing to do something, it immediately obeyed. It especially enjoyed the times when he would simply relax on the sofa reading a datapad and stroking its ridges while it rested on his chest. Dooku had to admit that he also enjoyed those moments and wondered why he hadn't gotten a pet sooner.

But one thing was very obvious to both he and Qui-Gon, the hatchling was loyal to them both despite Dooku being it's favorite. There had been an incident not long after they had brought the animal to Coruscant and it was still small enough to hide in his sleeves, though it did not always stay there. They were reporting to the Council to give their report on another mission and no matter how hard he tried to get the beast to stay in their apartment, the creature simply refused to leave him. So now he stood before the twelve masters, praying that the hatchling would stay in his robes and not disrupt the meeting.

He should have prayed harder.

As soon as one of the masters started berating him for his decision to publicly and personally behead the leader of the opposing faction—which resulted in both sides to make peace so he didn't quite understand why he was being chastised in the first place—the hatchling made it's presence known with a hiss.

“Did you just hiss at me, Master Dooku?” the councilor asked and Dooku could sense his Padawan trying to suppress the snicker that wanted to surface.

“No, Master, I did... _not_.” The last word came out strangled in reaction to feeling the hatchling moving across his body and over sensitive spots. He could hear the thing hiss in annoyance. A snigger escaped his Padawan and he gave the boy a dark look for it and immediately Qui-Gon schooled his features, though Dooku could still sense the amusement across the bond.

“Something wrong, there is Master Dooku?” Yoda inquired and the Jedi Master swore that Yoda knew exactly what was wrong and found it equally as amusing as his Padawan.

“No, my Master,” he smoothly lied while reaching into the Force to both grab the dragon and calm it. The trick seemed to work and it stopped working its way to the surface of his robes.

“Good. As I was saying,” the councilor from before continued. “You could have chosen the alternative route in resolving the conflict...”

“However it would not have achieved the same goals as swiftly and decisively as had the choice I did make,” Dooku argued, clearly irritated. His irritation bled through to the hatchling and he felt it moving again. Once more he calmed it with the Force.

“Jedi do _not_ execute prisoners, Dooku! Nor do they force their padawans to participate in such barbarism.”

A growl emerged from within his robes and the Jedi Master closed his eyes.

“Growling is unbecoming of you.”

“It was not me,” Dooku answered through clenched teeth. He wasn't sure which he should be more angry at. The hatchling or the councilor?

“Oh? Then I suppose it was just my imagination then?”

“If it only were, this meeting might be more bearable then.”

“Your sarcasm is insulting, Master Dooku.” He did his best not to move as the animal climbed down his right leg. He threw a glance at Qui-Gon and the Padawan simply shrugged. _The Force wills it, Master._

_As I feared._

“I doubt any insult from me would penetrate your thickheaded rational, Master Lur.”

// _“Master Dooku,”_ // growled the Wookiee councilor, just as the hatchling reached the floor. // _”That is uncalled... what is that?”_ //

“An Arkanian dragon hatchling,” the regal master answered neutrally.

He did nothing as the hatchling ran over to Master Lur, hissing and then taking a bite out of the Jedi's booted foot. It held on as Lur abruptly stood with a lightsaber ignited. The entire room was stunned at the surprise and Qui-Gon hurried over to pick up the animal before Lur finished his thought to bi-sect it with his weapon.

“Hmm... Keeping pets are we now, Master Dooku?” Yoda was clearly amused.

“It bit me,” Lur exclaimed. He wasn't sure if he should be offended or not.

“On your boot, it had.”

“It still bit me!”

“I can explain, Masters,” Qui-Gon interjected while trying to hold on to the creature. It struggled in his arms and he had no choice but to pass it off to his master. As soon as it was in Dooku's grip, the thing settled down and allowed him to _stuff_ him back into his robes. “He was not taking too kindly to Master Lur's tone toward my master and sought to defend him.”

“Just be glad his fuel sac hasn't matured yet,” Dooku placated, though secretly he would have found it both amusing and pleasing to see the Jedi Master dance while his robe was on fire. “Of course, by then, he would have taken more out of your foot than just the leather.”

“Why is it even here to begin with?” Lur demanded and the animal poked its head out of the robe and hissed at him. The councilor gave it a dirty look.

“Attached to Master Dooku it is.”

Dooku gave a frustrated and embarrassed sigh. “ _That_ is an understatement of the century, Master.”


End file.
